Forbes Magazine: on Education
Ben Carson:
Our public education system has become a propaganda system
On school choice, Carson said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2015, "I'm ready for school choice. We need to recognize education is the great liberator in our country. No one has to be a victim."On his website,
Carson says, "There has been a troubling trend of the U.S. Department of Education increasingly trying to dictate how children are educated in our primary and secondary schools. This must stop and Common Core must be overturned. Our education system must
be run by involved parents and engaged teachers and principals. Any attempt by faceless federal bureaucrats to take over our local schools must be defeated."
In a 2014 YouTube video, Carson said, "The great divide in our nation right now is education.
We have to do everything we can to bring it back to the level that it used to be in this country. We used to have the best public education system in the world. Now we have the best propaganda system in the world. We just have to change that."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 5, 2015
Bernie Sanders:
College loan repayment is regressive; refinance & forgive
In my view, the most revolting aspect of the student loan crisis is that every year, the federal government makes billions of dollars in profits off of student loans--$127 billion over 10 years. We must end the practice of the government making billions
in profits from student loans taken out by low and moderate income families. That is extremely regressive public policy. It also makes no sense that students and their parents are forced to pay interest rates for higher education loans that are much
higher than they pay for car loans or housing mortgages. We must restructure our student loan programs to take the profits out of our system, and return them to borrowers in the form of loan forgiveness and lower interest rates.Today's borrowers
should be able to refinance their student loans at much lower interest rates. This will allow millions of people to pay off their debt sooner, and have more money to buy a car, buy a house, or invest in their own children's future education.
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2016 hopefuls: 2015 speech at U. Iowa
Apr 30, 2015
Bobby Jindal:
If it's not about student achievement, what's it about?
Everybody says they're for great teachers, but to be honest look at how we hire, fire, pay and promote our teachers today. So in Louisiana we decided to do something about that. We said "wouldn't it be special, wouldn't it be great if we actually
hired, fired and promoted and compensated our teachers based on how well students are doing rather than simply how long teachers have been breathing in the classroom?"We've radically changed our tenure laws, our hiring laws, our firing laws, our
compensation laws to link teacher advancement to student achievement. Unions didn't like that. They said we don't have any problem with you evaluating teachers; we just don't want it to be tied so closely to student achievement.
It's like going to a football game and saying: don't worry about the score at the end of the game. If it's not about student achievement, what's it about?
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2014 CPAC convention
Jun 24, 2015
Bobby Jindal:
Money follows the child, instead of child following money
Jindal said at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in March 2014, "We said we've got to make the dollars follow the child instead of forcing the child to follow the dollar. Now what does that mean? That means that every child learns
differently. Some children will do great in a public school, some children will do great in an online program, some children will do great in charter schools, parochial schools, dual-enrollment programs, but we trust parents to make the best decisions
for their children. In New Orleans, 90% of our kids are in charter schools. We have doubled the percentage of kids doing reading and math on grade level in just five years. We've done course choice, we've done course choice so kids can start
in public schools and take private courses throughout the day, but we've also established a statewide scholarship program so kids can go to the best schools selected by their parents. Now the unions didn't like this either."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 24, 2015
Bobby Jindal:
Shrink Dept. of Education, and reduce its power
Jindal said at the Republican Leadership Summit, in April 2015, "I think we need to return the federal department of education back to its original intended purpose. It needs to be shrunken in size, in funding, in power.
And it needs to focus on deregulation, transparency and true civil rights, true civil rights enforcement."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 24, 2015
Carly Fiorina:
Education crisis:we're behind on teaching skills & character
In 1989, I wrote a master's thesis at MIT entitled "The Education Crisis: Business and Government's Role in Reform." I argued that our education system is failing our nation: we are falling behind in teaching competitive skills and increasingly ignoring
those subjects that are fundamental to character.
The education crisis has deepened since 1989 across every dimension, but still, as a nation, we have not yet harnessed the collective will or sense of urgency to address it.
Our competitiveness as a nation requires us to understand the bigger world, and prepare our children's hearts and minds to lead.
Source: Forbes Magazine 2016 series:"Tough Choices" by Carly Fiorina
Mar 24, 2015
Carly Fiorina:
Make sure that every parent has a choice
You know one of the things this president loves to do is to distract us so I think he is trying to distract us from the fact that we have too many failing high schools in this country by offering community college for free.
If we want to educate our children let us make sure that every parent has a choice and a chance to educate their children so that they can fulfill their potential.
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2015 Conservative Political Action Conf.
Mar 24, 2015
Carly Fiorina:
Synthesis of public school system and competitive vouchers
In education, the polarizing debate is about vouchers versus public schools. It's about "teaching to the test" versus "teaching that nourishes hearts and souls." It's about squeezing history and music and philosophy out of the curricula in order to make
room for math and science and reading in the quest for test scores and future funding.Let me tackle just one dimension of the debate: The private versus public school debate--free access for all versus a free-market voucher-driven system. The thesis
on the table is: Keep the system the way it is--a vast system of public schools, some with strong performance, but many that are able to achieve only the lowest common denominator. The antithesis: Let competition reign, give all students vouchers, and
let the strongest schools prosper--and the weakest ones perish.
Perhaps the synthesis would be far more than just a compromise--it allows us to build on the best of what we have, but instills new responsibility and accountability to the system as well.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Mar 24, 2015
Chris Christie:
Supports both charter schools and vouchers
He was met outside by hundreds of teachers in red shirts from around the state who gathered for a "truth to power" rally. Their handmade signs read "Christie: fat chance" and "Liar, liar, extra-large pants on fire." I know a lot of New Jersey teachers
and I have yet to meet one who has anything nice to say about Christie, whom they see as denigrating public schools and endangering their pensions and benefits. They also fume over his support for charter schools and vouchers.
As a local school board member when Christie took office, I know that he is the only reason that some costs were reined in. He instituted a cap on outrageous superintendent salaries and demanded that teachers and other
school employees pay something towards their previously free health-care premiums. Christie told the crowd in the high school gym that he didn't care about being popular. "I'm not running for prom king," he said.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 30, 2015
Chris Christie:
Speak the truth to the teachers union; then reform tenure
Christie on teacher tenure: "We reformed the oldest teacher tenure law in America so that now teachers that get a failing grade can get fired and not have a job for life in front of our children's classrooms." -- Faith & Freedom Coalition "Road to
Majority" conference, Washington, D.C., June 2015Christie on education reform: "They said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. They were just too powerful. Real teacher tenure reform that demands accountability and ends the
guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance would never happen. For the first time in 100 years with bipartisan support, we did it. We believe that the majority of teachers in America know our system must be reformed to put students first so
that America can compete. Teachers don't teach to become rich or famous. They teach because they love children." -- Republican National Convention, Tampa, Florida, August 2012
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2016 Faith & Freedom Conference
Jun 30, 2015
Chris Christie:
Extend school until 6 PM daily; and 12 months per year
Christie said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics' Politics and Eggs, "We need to approach education different in different areas. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all. How are we still teaching everybody almost the same way that we taught them in
the 1800s? Lines of desks, facing forward, looking at a black board or a white board, one person standing in the front of the room from 8:30 or so to 2:30 or so in the afternoon eight months a year.
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2016 Faith & Freedom Conference
Jun 30, 2015
Donald Trump:
Cut the Department of Education way, way down
Here are some of Trump's views on education:- Department of Education: "You could cut that way, way, way down." -- South Carolina Tea Party Convention, Myrtle Beach, January 2015
-
Common Core curriculum standards: "I am totally against Common Core." -- South Carolina Tea Party Convention, Myrtle Beach, January 2015. "That's a disaster. That's bad.
It should be local and all of that." -- Iowa Freedom Summit, Des Moines, Iowa, January 2015
- Infrastructure: "Fixing a country's infrastructure--our bridges, our schools, our airports--that, I can tell you, no one is close to Trump." --
Iowa Freedom Summit, Des Moines, Iowa, January 2015
- Local control: "Education has to be local." -- Announcement speech, New York City, June 16, 2015
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 16, 2015
Donald Trump:
Founded Trump University to teach the art of deal-making
Back in 2005, he started an online school called Trump University to teach the art of deal-making, but it didn't offer degrees.
The New York Department of Education complained and he changed the name to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative in 2010.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 16, 2015
George Pataki:
Common Core is a horrible idea
At the New Hampshire Republican Leadership Summit in April, Pataki said, "Common Core is a horrible idea. It's exactly like ObamaCare. You have a bunch of people sitting in a faraway place in Washington who think they are smarter than we are,
who are going to dictate to every community in this country how they educate their child. That's not America. So Common Core should go.:Pataki further said, "We have to scale back the Department of Education dramatically.
It is too big, like the rest of the government, too big, too powerful and too intrusive. Education has always been a state-controlled issue. I am a believer that the best government is the government closest to the people. So leave education to the local
schools, the district schools, the states. And let the Education Department get information on best practices that they can distribute, but not try to tell our schools and our parents how our children are educated in America. Period."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 11, 2015
Hillary Clinton:
Vouchers aren't constitutional; charter schools are ok
CLINTON: I'll tell you why I won't support vouchers. Number one, I don't think they're constitutional. But number two,
I don't see how you would implement them without having a lot of people get vouchers for schools that would be teaching things antithetical to American values. I actually do believe in charter schools.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Apr 12, 2015
Hillary Clinton:
Let's get back to schools where kids are socialized
At the turn of the last century there were all the immigrants and the schools were the place where kids were socialized--where they were given the chance to learn how to fit in and conduct themselves. And I think we're leaving too many kids to raise
themselves; it does take a village to raise and teach a child. The public school system has been, I believe, second to the Constitution, the most important institution in making America the great country that we have been over the last 200 plus years.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Apr 12, 2015
Jeb Bush:
Stop school districts that value money over learning
It's time to challenge the 13,000-plus government-run, politicized monopolies we call school districts that focus too much on the economic interest of the adults and not enough on student learning. Education politics should not be about protecting
an antiquated system. This should be about empowering parents and students to be able to achieve earned success. Empowering parents with choice, particularly low-income parents, improves the quality of all education options.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 15, 2015
Kamala Harris:
Federal money to subsidize teach pay raises
How, exactly, is this federal money supposed to end up in local teacher hands? Harris' plan calls on the feds to contribute the first 10% of the money needed to finance the raises (which are supposed to be, on average, $13,500 per teacher).
Then her administration will "incentivize states to step up and do their part" by offering a sort of three-to-one matching fund. For every dollar the state kicks in, the feds will kick in three.
Source: Forbes Magazine, "Four Reasons," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 26, 2019
Kanye West:
Reinstate the fear and love of God in all schools
Reinstate in God's state, in God's country, the fear and love of God in all schools and organizations and you chill the fear and love of everything else. So that was a plan by the Devil to have our kids committing suicide at an all-time high by removing
God, to have murders in Chicago at an all-time high because the human beings working for the Devil removed God and prayer from the schools. That means more drugs, more murders, more suicide.
Source: Forbes Magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 8, 2020
Lawrence Lessig:
Congress should decide student loan rates, not banks
On Student Loans: "America must make critical decisions about how to make education work better. We can't make those decisions so long as the decision makers are focused on the money. Congress should decide whether
interest rates on student loans should be lower, or at least, whether the loans should be able to be refinanced. (I would support both.) It shouldn't have to worry about contributions from the banking industry as it makes those decisions."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Sep 30, 2015
Lawrence Lessig:
No Child Left Behind gave birth to testing industry
On Testing: "An incredible testing industry has been born in light of No Child Left Behind.
Congress should decide whether such testing should continue-without worrying about whether contributions from the testing industry will continue."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Sep 30, 2015
Lincoln Chafee:
$6 million for RI higher education: make tuition affordable
On college tuition, Chafee said in his Budget and State of the State Address in January 2013, "We must do all we can to ensure that motivated and hardworking Rhode Islanders can obtain a quality college education and we must be sure that they do so
without taking on mounting levels of debt. The biggest barriers to these goals are ever-increasing tuition rates. Therefore, in an effort to ensure that there is no tuition increase next year at the Community College of Rhode Island,
Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island, I propose an increase of $6 million for higher education. However, the leadership of these institutions must meet me halfway. If they can achieve $6 million
in total savings and efficiencies, coupled with the additional funding, we can guarantee the students of these schools no tuition increase next year. They have to meet us halfway."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 7, 2015
Lindsey Graham:
States were bribed and coerced into adopting Common Core
Back in 2013 an audience member asked him a question about Common Core State Standards and he replied, "What's that?" Just a few months later he sponsored a bill to denounce the nationwide curriculum initiative.
Here are some of his views on the Common Core State Standards:"The Obama Administration has effectively bribed and coerced states into adopting Common Core. Blanket education standards should not be a prerequisite for federal funding.
In order to have a competitive application for some federal grants and flexibility waivers, states have to adopt Common Core.
This is simply not the way the Obama Administration should be handling education policy. Our resolution affirms that education belongs in the hands of our parents, local officials and states."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 2, 2015
Marco Rubio:
Too many 4-year college grads; focus on vocational careers
Rubio says that not everyone should be forced to get a four-year degree in order to find a job; there are millions of good-paying jobs out there and we should allow people to have access to skills they need in a cost-effective way. Rubio said at CPAC in
February that in the 21st century some of the best jobs require more than high school--traditional high school--but less than four years of college."We shouldn't be stigmatizing those vocational careers.
We should be graduating more people from high school ready to work as plumbers, electricians, welders, machinists, BMW technicians, you name it. We have too many people graduating with a four-year degree that doesn't lead to jobs.
And they owe tens of thousands of dollars. We should tell students if you graduate with a major in Greek philosophy you're going to struggle to find a job because the market for Greek philosophers is tight."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Apr 13, 2015
Martin O`Malley:
Allow refinancing college loans & income-based repayments
O'Malley says about student debt, "We need to invest in our public colleges and universities to make college more affordable for more families. And we need to make it possible for students to actually refinance their college debt and
their college loans just like we made it possible for people to be able to refinance their home mortgages.
We should make income-based repayment plans the norm so that young people whose passion might be teaching or nursing or policing to be able to follow their dreams and also be able to pay their bills and start families.
In his State of the State in January 2014, O'Malley wished for "A day when every high school student in Maryland graduates with a modern technical skill and a year of college credit already earned."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 1, 2015
Mike Huckabee:
College creates mountains of debt but not lifelong careers
On college costs, Huckabee says on his website, "The rising cost of college threatens middle-class families, students and the American dream. For too many, college is where students discover mountains of debt--but not a lifelong career.
We must tackle the establishment and reform our colleges and universities so they make sense for the jobs of tomorrow."
On Huckabee's personal education background: After just two and a half years, Huckabee graduated magna cum laude with a degree in religion from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
He moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary but left after one year to begin a career in Christian advertising and broadcasting before becoming a church pastor.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 6, 2015
Mike Huckabee:
No constitutional authority for Department of Education
"When it comes to education," Huckabee says on his website, "the Obama Administration is lost at sea." Here are some of his other views on education:- School Choice: "I'm for the education of all children not just those in public schools."
-
Common Core: "I oppose watering down our education standards or automatically promoting every student. We must kill Common Core and restore common sense."
- Department of Education: "There is no constitutional authority to dictate education from
the federal government. Why even have a federal Department of Education? It's flunked and it needs to be expelled. Education policy ought to be set by states, local school boards and, best of all, by the moms and dads of the children."
-
College Costs: "For too many, college is where students discover mountains of debt--but not a lifelong career. We must tackle the establishment and reform our colleges and universities so they make sense for the jobs of tomorrow."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 6, 2015
Mike Huckabee:
School choice for all: public or private for all kids
In his "School Choice For All" video, Huckabee says, "Why should children be forced to go to a school which is failing to meet their needs when there are other schools that could do a good job? Let's put children first and do what's right for kids.
I'm for the education of all children not just those in public schools. But all children ought to have a choice of which school to go, public or private."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 6, 2015
Mike Huckabee:
Some homeschooled kids are the most successful kids
On homeschooling, on "The Kelly File" on Fox News on May 5, Huckabee said, "If they want to homeschool their kids let's accommodate that. I was the first governor in America that appointed a home school parent to
the state board of education. That was controversial. This is a growing movement in our country. And some of the homeschooled kids are the most effective and absolutely the most stunningly successful kids there are."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 6, 2015
Rand Paul:
Transfer $100B spent on federal DOE to states & local
Education historically was a state and local subject. We spend about 100 billion dollars on the Department of Education each year and that's been going on since 1980. I'm not so sure we're better off than we were before. Well, what I would do is I would
have it spent on the state and local level to allow innovation to occur. I propose that we allow school charters, school choice, vouchers, competition. Competition breeds excellence and encourages innovation. And boy we really need it, we need innovation
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Apr 7, 2015
Rick Perry:
Supported homeschooling; and scholarships for choice
Perry has a long record of speaking out on education issues, including banning Common Core curriculum standards in Texas. As governor he promoted homeschooling as well as lifting the cap on charter schools. As a presidential contender in 2012, he
supported the elimination of the Department of Education.On homeschooling, Perry said on the Glenn Beck Radio Program in March 2013: "There's something special about a parent who is willing to give up a lot of time to homeschool their children.
It's just, to me, one of the greatest displays of love in our country."
On school choice, Perry said in the Texas State of the State address in January 2013, "Not every child learns for the same purpose, not every child thrives in the same settings
and schools. Limiting a child to just one opportunity does nothing more than limit that child's future. It's time to introduce scholarship programs that give students a choice, especially those who are locked into low-performing schools."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Jun 4, 2015
Rick Santorum:
Common sense instead of Common Core
Stronger families and more jobs will result in better schools. But our children, they deserve an education customized, customized to maximize their potential.
The first step in that process is joining me to drive a stake in the heart of Common Core.
I think if we're really going to solve and crack this nut of the education problem in America we've got to do some things to help repair and bring parents back into the scene.
The idea that at a certain age you sort of drop your kids off and you're done with this, it's now somebody else's job, is the cancer that is killing the education system in this country in my opinion.
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
May 27, 2015
Rob Hogg:
Excellent schools are of utmost importance
On the economy, Hogg knows effective government can help build a vibrant economy that works for all people. Higher wages will contribute to increased spending,boosting our economy in turn.Education is one of the areas for which
Hogg has fought hard in the Iowa Legislature.Affordable college education and excellent schools are of utmost importance. He sees the need for more math and science opportunities to prepare students for the future.
Source: Forbes Magazine OpEd on 2016 Iowa Senate race
Mar 15, 2016
Ted Cruz:
Right to education: public, private, charter, or homeschool
Just about every chance he gets, Cruz says he believes school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. On the Common Core state standards, Cruz says, "We need to repeal Common Core. We need to get the federal government out of the business
of dictating educational standards. Education is far too important for it to be governed by unelected bureaucrats in Washington. It should be at the state level or even better at the local level."At Liberty University in March 2015,
Cruz said, "Imagine embracing school choice as the civil rights issue of the next generation. That every single child, regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity, regardless of wealth or zip code, every child in America has a right to a quality
education. And that's true from all of the above, whether it is public schools or charter schools or private schools or Christian schools or parochial schools or home schooled. Every child."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Mar 24, 2015
Ted Cruz:
We should thank parents who homeschool
At the Homeschool Iowa conference in March 2014, Cruz said, "We love our children and we take seriously the biblical admonition to raise them up to walk in a godly manner. Thank you for the financial commitment you give by not being in the paid
workplace, the commitment of time, the commitment of energy, the commitment of passion for your kids. I'd like to speak on behalf of your children to say thank you. What you are doing is making a difference and it's a difference that will be felt for
generations to come. Their children and their children's children will thank you for the impact you are having on your kids preparing them to go forward."
In 2015, Cruz said, "Imagine that every single child in America has a right to a quality education, whether it is public schools or charter schools or private schools or Christian schools or parochial schools or home schooled. Every child."
Source: Forbes Magazine "2016 Candidates Want You to Know" series
Mar 24, 2015
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